Nationalism in the North is a unit developed in the NWT to support the teaching of the new Social Studies 20 courses (2008). The unit was developed in collaboration between the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre (PWNHC) and the Social Studies Curriculum Coordinators at the Department of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE). The unit articulates with the McGraw-Hill and Oxford textbooks developed in Alberta for these courses. It is meant to help students discover the history and context for land claims, self-government and treaties in a northern context - and how these processess are in fact powerful local expressions of nationalism, which should allow for significant connections to be made with your students and communities. It is also intended to draw on the rich collection of assets in the NWT Online History Timeline which is found on the PWNHC website.
2. Pilot Structure
During the second semester of the 2008/09 school year, a small group of pilot teachers will test drive the unit and provide structured feedback to ECE on how the unit has played out in their classroom and community setting. Feedback will be given on this Wiki space in the tables developed for each Activity. Pilot teachers will place their feedback into the tables on a regular basis during the pilot.
3. Collaboration
working with Wikis (together)
Roles:
John Stewart at ECE will be managing the Wiki
Each pilot teacher will enter the wiki and insert their feedback to the 8 activities in the appropriately labeled tables. Pilot teachers are free to read each others' feedback, and may profit from suggestions, links, adaptations or resources that other teachers have posted as they move through the unit.
4. Working with Wikis
This is the first time that an ECE-coordinated group of pilot teachers will be using a wiki to gather input and feedback on a resource or document. We are increasingly convinced that wikis may prove to tools that can be helpful in overcoming some of the challenges that confront us as a geographically large, yet demographically small, part of the world. The Nationalism in the North wiki group will be using this tool as the primary means of communication, feedback and input into the Nationalism in the North teaching unit. We are also hoping that we can collectively explore how we might use wikis in our classrooms as a helpful part of our teaching practice. We will talk about some of this as the pilot proceeds. In the meantime, I'd encourage you to spend a couple of minutes with the 'Working with Wikis' powerpoint attached immediately below this paragraph. It was put together by a high school in Arizona who has begun using wikis in a variety of ways in his Social Studies classes and feels that they are helping him improve some of what he is exploring with students.
(the columns in the Feedack Tables below) Text to World (the activity's connection to your community) Local examples or connections that worked or could work that brought this activity to life in your classroom (eg. similes (when you said to students "this is just like..."), illustrations, examples used that increased student comprehension; community members were accessed; community event participated in, intergenerational conversations, etc.)
Text to Text (resources that could/did further support this unit) Web sites, brochures, posters, images, video, software applications, newspaper articles, podcasts, audio clips, books used to assist in teaching of lesson
Text to Self (what was your teaching experience with this activity?) Suggested improvements to the activity: teaching strategies, pedagogical choices, pacing, sequencing, time allotment, class groupings, collaboration techniques, motivational activities, games used, extension activities, possible future projects and longer-term explorations, cross-curricular connections)
Text and Technology (what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?) Download times, computer access, network stability, hardware/software
6. Editing Schedule
The Nationalism in the North Unit consists of 8 Activities. Pilot teachers are being asked to provide feedback for each activitity within 1 week of having completed the activity itself in class. This will help all of us to benefit from adjustments and suggested resources that may be submitted by any pilot teacher.
7. Activity #1
Changing Times
Pilot
Teacher
Text to World
(the activity's connection to your community)
Text to Text
(resources that could/did further support this unit)
Text to Self
(what was your teaching experience with this activity?)
Text and Technology
(what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?)
Bob W
Landon
Ross
The students were both Gwichin and Inuvaluit which sometimes resulted in different views of the traditional and transitional eras
No additional resources
I basically had split the students into groups of 4 or 5 to do this activity. Handed out markers and chart paper and then explained the activity. Problem one even though I put the windows on the projector I immediately started getting charts with the titles across the top. I made sure they drew the windows and then they started. Suggested time was way off with the 20-2 class either because of the time the activity will take or the quality of work they produced, more like 40-60 minutes. I will try to attach pictures of their work.
Students stated they had the easiest time with traditional and hardest with transitional, they had trouble because things in transitional era have changed so much it was tough to pin down exactly what was transitional.
I had a bit of a time trying to insert the pictures and I still am not sure if I did it the way it should be done. I am still learning this wiki thing so I hope all is well with it.
Patti
I had a class of 15 Tlicho students in a split 20-1 and 20-2 classroom. A very homogenous group except they ranged in age from 15 to mid thirties (a mother who has returned to school)
I used no additional resources.
The activity went very well and was enjoyed by all. Here are my observations of the lesson:
1. some groups were slow to start because the drawing part threw them off because my class has a lot of perfectionists in it- it was tougher for my high academic students who are more Type "A" personalities who work better alone and got frustrated with others in the group (very interesting to watch them work themselves out- which they did) Once they started, they create some amazing pictures.
2. took much longer than anticipated we went well into our second period
3. I had my groups present to me as they were all finished at separate times so we discussed it as a small group which took the fear out of the presentation to the class. This worked really well. They all had other work to do when finished.
The activity was fun and students were engaged.
none experienced
Paul
The class size was small (6)students were Inuvialiuit Gwichin and White no difference noted in views
Used the PWNHC to help with student imput of all three eras
Motivational issues here and the twenty minute time allotment stretched into 2x50 minute periods After surfing the PWCHC site and timeline a greater imput was observed
I provided markers and a large paper format, 1 era at a time for my small group. We brainstormed each era using mostly imagination for the traditional and assorted textbooks for transitional and our own experiences for the modern. It was extremley slow at first, motivational issues as mentioned but there was an increase in imput after visiting the site. Need more time allotted and maybe include the site immediately. They liked the pictures and so did I. Maybe having an elder tell stories before the era thing might be a good idea also.
none experienced
Alison
Small class with wide cultural diversity. Dene, Metis, E. Canadian and European cultures represented.
PW's time line is posted in my classroom. This visual helped students get the idea of 'eras'.
The activity was positive. Students enjoyed the activity and it held even the non-participator's attention. The activity took 40 minutes rather than the 20 minute estimation.
none experienced
8. Activity #2 -
A Picture is worth a Hundred Words
Pilot Teacher
Text to World
(the activity's connection to your community)
Text to Text(resources that could/did further support this unit)
Text to Self
(what was your teaching experience with this activity?
Text and Technology
(what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?
Landon
Ross
The picture were of both aboriginal groups from tis region. So my students were using some stories that they had heard.
Rather than have the photo on the projector I printed out 3 copies of all the photos as I thought since I have both Gwich'in and Inuvaluit students they could pick which of the pictures they wished to write their story about. All the students participated and they seemed to enjoy the activity.
The pictures had to be saved and moved into word so I could print them as I could not download the pdf files for the pictures. I scanned their stories and will share some at a later time.
Patti
They had a tougher time connecting to the pictures because they didn't see themselves in the pictures without some prompting. Eventually, they used the Tlicho dictionary to help with ideas and words.
If there were more pictures that would have better.
I started with the vocabulary first to explain how this activity connected to the last activity and to show a vision of where we were going in these activities. They needed a context for why they were doing this.
Again slow to start but once they got it, it went really well- my 20-1 struggled more than at first than my 20-2 again in this activity. It was hard for them to get the idea of writing a story not just an explanation of the image.
Students who were more connected to cultural activities had more knowledge of other Aboriginal Cultures and did a lot of teaching to other students of what was happening in the images. It was really nice to see.
I had to get some help printing the images because I couldn't print any of the PDF at first...it is all worked out now though.
Paul
I skipped this activity even though the pictures of the paintings were quite good. I just thought the pictures too contrived and a bit idealised like Paul Kane's art. I lean more to the political and legal issues presented with the unit. Maybe next time I'll broaden my horizons and include this activity.
Alison
There was a real connection of the vocabulary to our community as the Sahtu Dene and Metis are in the midst of self government negotiations with the Federal Government.
Sahtu Dene and Metis Land Claims Agreement (Summary Copy)
Discussion of these vocabulary words was very rich. Students were encouraged to brainstorm how decision making came about in the past. They were then asked to come up with some 'modern times' decision that they would like to see implemented. The ideas were very diverse, especially with the different cultural groups that were represented. Some of their ideas included liquor and gambling bans, mandatory sports funding.
Unfortunately I was not able to access the pictures when I was teaching this lesson and so I ended up omitting this activity.
9. Activity #3
Going on a Hunting Trip
Pilot Teacher
Text to World
(the activity's connection to your community)
Text to Text
(resources that could/did further support this unit)
Text to Self
(what was your teaching experience with this activity?
Text and Technology
(what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?
Landon
Many of my students have never been hunting (and several have no interest in hunting) so it was a little difficult getting everyone interested in the activity.
Some students found the activitiy quite difficult and quickly became frustrated when they could not figure out the game. This was especially true for my ESL student. The few who did figure out the game quite enjoyed but eventually became frustrated when the others in the class could not figure it out. All in all, it wasn't that successful for this particular class though I can see how for some of my classes in the past it could have worked really well.
Ross
Land Claims in this region was an important part of the discussion
No additional resources used
I was surprised at how well this activity went!! I started off and two of the students actually had done the activity before and so they were able to answer correctly in the first round. One of these students was able to figure out all three rounds and others got frustrated as was intended some of the looks were priceless after I Ross brougth a Radio my next student brought a gun and was not allowed as his name did not start with that letter the next student brought a jar and since his name stared with J he was allowed the first student looked at the second as if he didn't understand why he couldn't come I think initially I didn't want him to bring a gun but then when the student brought a jar and was allowed it started. I changed it to the first letter of my last name in the second round and the second letter of my last name in the third. We then went into their feelings and how that related to the "game" always being changed for the aboriginal people when dealing with governments.
No technology used
Patti
Students could connect this clearly to arrival of the Europeans in the North and specifically in Behchoko.
none needed
Students were really frustrated in this activity and I didn't have anyone who fully understood it so we never advanced to me changing the rules of the game. We played 4 or 5 times and then finally I explained how it was working. We discussed the frustration and wanting to quit as well as the lack of understanding between Aboriginal people and Europeans.
I felt the activity was very disconnected as I did it separately which I won't do again. I might combine it with Activity 4 so there is a hook. My students were very patient and have a lot of trust but I think in a different class it might have been very different-our students want to do know why it is important and why we do things. I had to build a strong connection to the next activity we are going to do next week.
No issues
Paul
All the students have been on a hunting trip and were anticipatory until they didn't know how to go and then they wanted to quit but we persevered
More court documents from 1917 might help the students critically evaluate the statement of northerners being made criminals by the passing of a law. Presumption of innocence is disregarded in this statement in the unit pertaining to this issue The number of northerners charged under the new laws might be of assistance and the circumstances of their arrests would be interesting
It was slow at first until 1 student clicked in. Than it was fun. I was amazed that the students have not played this game before. Cultural differences for sure. ( I used to play it with rounds before anyone with my kids many years ago) I found it a stretch to compare the "not knowing" the rules of the game to the "feelings of powerlessness" experienced by native peoples. A provider supporting his family will continue to hunt and disregard the law by using his/her power and hunt as they always did
No techology was used however a follow-up on the timeline and other internet sources to examine actual legislation concerning hunting rights will be undertaken
Alison
Students were very frustrated with the game at the beginning but then warmed up. We played it twice as they enjoyed it some much. It definitely gave them the sense of what disempowerment feels like.
Nothing additional required.
Discussion the the classroom then centered on existing rules in our school / community that confuse people or make people frustrated. A reoccurring theme was the prohibition of ear phones in the school.
Here's a modified version of the activity Ross developed.
Pilot Teacher
Text to World
(the activity's connection to your community)
Text to Text
(resources that could/did further support this unit)
Text to Self
(what was your teaching experience with this activity?
Text and Technology
(what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?
Landon
Ross
I modified the worksheet as I found that some of my students groups were not specifically mentioned in the previous worksheet and the web address of the timeline was also not on there. John has attached it in word so you can modify it as necessary.
I did not use any additional resources, other than the modified worksheet.
I found that with limited guidance the students were able to do the worksheet. They were assigned a particular time period and went about answering the questions. I encouraged them to explore the website but they did very little until I on the projector showed them some interesting pictures and other things about Inuvik. Some of the student then started to explore the website a little. I would suggest some type of quest so that the student would explore the website and become familiar with it before they do this activity.
I found that you must save your work on this wiki often as this is the third time that I have typed it in twice it was lost when I lost my internet connection
Patti
Students could connect this to their own community of Behcho'ko very easily.
I didn't use any additional resources.
We started by connecting this activity to previous activities and a connection to where these activities are going. I found they had a tough time getting started and really tired but I don't this should reflect on the activity. Once they got into it, they were really interested especially in the photos. Overall, I would say a successful activity.
Internet was great and we had no problems.
Teresa
Paul
Mackenzie Gas Project people were in our classroom Feb. 23 which was a bonus especially for the modern era. I recommend asking them into the classroom they presented a powerpoint about the proposed pipeline that led into reasons why land claims were important for resource sharing. Also we discussed possible negative and positive effects on human and physical enviroments
Copy of MGP powerpoint and the PWNHS timeline were the only resources used
I printed out a copy of the worksheet for each student with 1 timeline highlighted and they picked at random their specific search and then jig sawed in the next class. I experienced the slow start as Ross until the students saw the excellent pictures. Having an intro activity like a scavenger hunt at first would really help. Question 2 was interesting and provoking. We agreed there was no need of land claims if there was no European contact unless of course competing tribes in the north
mimicked the Haudasenee Confederacy and settled land claims among each other. It led to a good what if discussion if the Euros didn't show up
I just finished reading Ross's caveat about saving and immediately pressed save and was disconnected. I went on the site a second time and I was asked if I want to keep a saved draft glory-o sky I pressed keep draft and there it was awesome.
Alison
Due to a lack of exposure to NWT history, students had difficulty seeing the time line events as their own history. This difficulty included students of Dene or Metis culture.
The poster version of the time line was a good starting place as an overview.
Students found the time line to be overwhelming. They had difficulty filtering out irrelevant pieces of information and finding the significant pieces. To encourage student success we ended up working together on this assignment using the class room projector. The other difficulty that arose was the lack of background regarding land claims settlements. This made questions 3 & 4 particularly difficult to answer.
Accessing the time line went smoothly. We did find however that some pages were slow in loading.
11. Activity #5
The Road to Settlement
The Timeline cards in the online version of Activity 5(on the PWNHC website) have been enlarged to make them more easily readable in a classroom setting, and re-designed to be appropriate to the Version A and Version B formats that are now indicated for this lesson in the online version of the unit.
Pilot Teacher
Text to World
(the activity's connection to your community)
Text to Text
(resources that could/did further support this unit)
Text to Self
(what was your teaching experience with this activity?
Text and Technology
(what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?
Landon
Ross
The connection to our community is obvious with two major landclaims being signed in this region. We actually have had some of the people who signed these claims in our school recently talking to the northern studies class.
I used 4" x 6" index Cards, Large Black Fold over Clips, Rope, and Glue.
I assembled the Cards with the date on the front and the event on the back. I blew up the font up to about 26 so the student could easily read the event also so they could see the date. I strung up the rope at the back of the classroom. I labeled one side Then and the other side of the rope Now and then we started. I had 9 students that day so I shuffled the cards and handed 2 or 3 to each student. I asked the class how they wanted to go about reading the cards, they decided that they wanted to go in chronological order so they started with the Pre-European contact card and we read through all the cards in order. We sometimes stopped to explain what each of the cards meant and compare what was happening in the NWT with other things we had studied, eg Michael Sikyea compared to lobster fishing in New Brunswick or forestry rights in Nova Scotia. The students really seemed to understand progression of rights and how the changes benefitted or hurt aboriginal people. I think the reading off of the cards in order helped the understanding of the students, and we had good discussion about the land claims.
I used different coloured index cards for different eras, and I informed the students when one of the events was on the timeline so if next time we are on the computers they can look them up.
I had some problems with the download into adobe but Mark fixed it in time. The font for the cards was small so I blew it up so they were visable. I would suggest that larger cards be made for the teacher.
Patti
The lesson had direct reference to the Tlicho region which the students related to very easily.
Created 5 sets of the cards for smaller groups.
I created 5 sets for 5 groups of students. I divided the class into groups of 2-4 students. Each group was given a package of laminated cards which they organized in chronological order. After that I had them choose which event they felt had most impact on their lives. They had to explain to me in writing why they chose that particular event. It went really well. All students involved and active. I feel it will be a good lead in activity to the next one.
I had problems getting the enlarged version of the timeline so I just did it myself. I am still having problems with the PDF.
Paul
This lesson showed the students just how events locally were interconnected with federal events and vic-versa
I cut up the cards from the unit and separated the dates from their description and laminated them. We played a game of match the dates with the descriptions which was fun.
As much fun as it was I believe the students were concentrating more on assembling a puzzle than the content on each card. I'm planning on having the students mount the matched items on a fixed timeline on the classroom wall for reference for the rest of the semester.
No issues
Alison
This lesson was very valuable to all students giving them specifics of their own (local) history.
-Sahtu Dene and Metis Land Claims Agreement (Summary Copy)
-If Only We Had Known
This lesson should have preceded Lesson 4, as it gave students the background that they required to answer all the questions on the "Transitional Times" Worksheet. Students enjoyed learning about past events and were very excited to discover the key involvement of local peoples in events like the establishment of the Indian Brotherhood.
No issues.
12. Activity #6
Claim Jigsaw
Pilot Teacher
Text to World
(the activity's connection to your community)
Text to Text
(resources that could/did further support this unit)
Text to Self
(what was your teaching experience with this activity?
Text and Technology
(what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?
Landon
Ross
This was important for my students as we have two of the landclaims from this region. I drew the names out of a box for the assigned claims as most of the students wanted to do their parlicular claim.
Modified the worksheets again just to make them look better and to eliminate the sixth option which was unclaimed landclaims as I judged it either to broad or abstract a section for the students to tackle.
Students needed some guidance but were generally able to work through the first and then the second worksheet. Make sure you have students with different abilities working on each sheet, as I found that one student working on one claim by himself was taking more time than the others to complete the task and it resulted in some students being impatient with that student.
A couple of things that were pointed out to me during the excercise is that not all computer labs are created equal so some may require certain plugins or programs be downloaded to play the assets. The teacher shoudl go down and check that the assets will work on the computers in the lab. I think most worked on ours but I think a student had to install a flashplayer or something before the assets would work on one machine. I would also note that our compuetr lab has the speakers removed due to music etc so the assets with sound were not able to be properly evaluated by my students, if I had thought of it before I could have brought in speakers. i wonder if this is widespread and that maybe text or subtitles of the speeches could be made available. This would also allow people to speak in their aboriginal language and then allow for students who don't understand that language to still use the asset.
Patti
Paul
The connection with the students was timely because we had Rosemary Lundrigan, a local resident in the week before speaking on the Inuvialuit self government agreement
The small class size again lent itself to jigsawing with each student getting a land claim to look up and the teacher as well
The students were given individual land claims to look up according to preference.
Differing backgrounds help here with one student being from Gwitc'in descent so connections to personal heritage aided in on task behavior in the computer lab.I interpreted the assets to be the benefits monies royalties etc that the treaty provided for both sides. What was interesting to students was the difference in size issues of the smaller claims compared with Nunavut being its own territory now
The computer lab must be outfitted with head phones etc to fully benefit from all the audio records from the individual sites. Our lab here has no listening capability so bringing headphones for this activity would be a must.
Alison
As the Sahtu also has a settled Land Claim this lesson had real value for my students. Many students were also interested to know about the other claims in the NWT.
Sahtu Dene and Metis Land Claims Agreement (Summary Copy)
The time line was not a helpful resource for most of my students completing this activity. Students found that they had to do additional research on the web. Most were able to find the information required but again had trouble filtering relevant/irrelevant sites. Students found that the Summary Table was repetitious but done in the whole group setting was valuable and encouraged participation of all.
In general we did not have issues with technology, except for the occasional slow down if another class was using the internet at the same time as my group.
13. Activity #7
Nationalism
Pilot Teacher
Text to World
(the activity's connection to your community)
Text to Text
(resources that could/did further support this unit)
Text to Self
(what was your teaching experience with this activity?
Text and Technology
(what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?
Landon
Ross
The activity went well I think it could be adapted to local landclaims and self government I did it on the Tlicho as that is what it was set up for. The terms etc could easily be adapted for either the Inuvaluit or the Gwich'in land claims, and their work on self government
I again redid the worksheet as I found that it did not leave enough room for the students to answer I prefer a sheet that they can hand in with the answers on it not add many other pieces of paper to it.
The excercise went well, I was able to use local examples about why self-government is a problem in a town like Inuvik and how they have proposed various combinations of public and self-government for the region. I would do more adaptation when I do it in the future.
I basically redid the worksheet to allow more room for answers. The technology worked well as I have 5 computers in my classroom that students can use.
Patti
Paul
We also did the Tlicho land claim and really enjoyed their web site especially the flag.
We have in the classroom the Gwich'in and Inuvialuit Self-government folder available from the IRC and the tribal councils They are free for the asking and are a help in defining self-govrnment
The interpretation of the flag was a fun exercise as well as a scavenger hunt of the site. The discussion of self-government bogged down probably because I'm not sure what it is. Does the governing body collect taxes or do they get a percentage of the take from the federal government? What happens to the self governing body when they do not govern properly?
The computer lab was all we needed and I'm hoping to upload the scavenger hunt I made up.
Many students were aware of self government in the Tlicho but were lacked interest as they did not see it pertaining to themselves. When making the connection to local self government negotiations they were slightly more interested.
-Actual pictures, news clips of the Tlicho signing showing the wide range of participation and excitement in and about the event.
-Dene Nations flag choice is another option
-'Self Government' poem by Rene Fumoleau
-Students have been exposed many times to the idea of symbolism several time throughout the SS 20 course. I would perhaps use the Tlicho flag exercise to make a connection to the crest assignment from the text as the students had difficulty relating to Michele Jean's crest choices.
-I ended up giving the students notes on the vocabulary words that they they could work out definitions in their own words and experiences.
14. Activity #8
Leaders
Pilot Teacher
Text to World
(the activity's connection to your community)
Text to Text
(resources that could/did further support this unit)
Text to Self
(what was your teaching experience with this activity?
Text and Technology
(what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?
Landon
Ross
The activity used Nellie Cournoyea and she had been in the school earlier in the year in the Northern Studies Class, I was able to list a number of the individual who had signed both local land claims. The student were then able to pick who they wanted to do their report on a number of the student had relatives who signed one of the claims so it brought the report into their world.
I printed off copies of the actual land claim documents and we watched part of a video of the signing of the Gwich'in Land Claim.
I would say that the time requested is way off if you are going to do all of the activity. With the videos etc it could easily be a whole 80 minute class. I would recommend that Land Claim videos be edited as they are very long and the student found them repetitive. I was able to get a list of people who signed the Inuvialuit Land Claim but the Gwich'in had some signatures that I had to ask the Gwich'in teacher about as the name of the individual was not written below their signature in the claims document. Information on some of the people who signed the land claims does not exist on the internet so it will be a problem if you use that as your only method of research. It was intersting to see that some leaders had signed both of the land claims in this region either for their aboriginal group or as members of the NWT Government
Research of certain individuals was impossible and even some of the well known leaders some information requested in the Biographical Research assignment was not available on the internet.It may be a problem for anyone outside of Yellowknife who cannot go to the Museum to get information, or is doing the assignment in a short period of time.
Patti
Paul
The local connection here is Nellie Cournoyea is a local resident. I asked here to come to the classroom and we just missed out having her
The Inuvialuit Regional council has a DVD on Nellie which the class viewed and I strongly suggest teachers get ahold of this resource because it presents not only a good biography of Nellie but also the process of self-government and her negotiations with big business
This semester I didn't create an assignment based on major players of the land claims because of time constraints and student motivation but next time I will. It would be a culmiating activity of the unit and it could be an essay, poster or similar to the Canadian memorial assignment on the resource disk. Next year I'll still try to get Nellie in the classroom and as a result of this unit I'll be a little more comfortable with the material to interview her in the classroom.
No issues
Alison
I did not have an Activity 8 in the Draft. However, I concluded the unit with the Rene Fumoleau poem. However, students had difficulty relating to this particular poem, as they could not picture the discussion or interest happening in a southern setting.
None that I am aware of.
The questions regarding defining yourself assisted the students in understanding the poem's intent. This concept however has been come quite repetitious within the whole course. If I were doing this assignment again I would encourage students to go a step further to discuss ways in which they express their personal identity or ways in which they could further express their personal identity.
Table of Contents
Nationalism in the North Pilot
1. Preamble
Nationalism in the North is a unit developed in the NWT to support the teaching of the new Social Studies 20 courses (2008). The unit was developed in collaboration between the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre (PWNHC) and the Social Studies Curriculum Coordinators at the Department of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE). The unit articulates with the McGraw-Hill and Oxford textbooks developed in Alberta for these courses. It is meant to help students discover the history and context for land claims, self-government and treaties in a northern context - and how these processess are in fact powerful local expressions of nationalism, which should allow for significant connections to be made with your students and communities. It is also intended to draw on the rich collection of assets in the NWT Online History Timeline which is found on the PWNHC website.
2. Pilot Structure
During the second semester of the 2008/09 school year, a small group of pilot teachers will test drive the unit and provide structured feedback to ECE on how the unit has played out in their classroom and community setting. Feedback will be given on this Wiki space in the tables developed for each Activity. Pilot teachers will place their feedback into the tables on a regular basis during the pilot.
3. Collaboration
working with Wikis (together)
Roles:
4. Working with Wikis
This is the first time that an ECE-coordinated group of pilot teachers will be using a wiki to gather input and feedback on a resource or document. We are increasingly convinced that wikis may prove to tools that can be helpful in overcoming some of the challenges that confront us as a geographically large, yet demographically small, part of the world. The Nationalism in the North wiki group will be using this tool as the primary means of communication, feedback and input into the Nationalism in the North teaching unit. We are also hoping that we can collectively explore how we might use wikis in our classrooms as a helpful part of our teaching practice. We will talk about some of this as the pilot proceeds. In the meantime, I'd encourage you to spend a couple of minutes with the 'Working with Wikis' powerpoint attached immediately below this paragraph. It was put together by a high school in Arizona who has begun using wikis in a variety of ways in his Social Studies classes and feels that they are helping him improve some of what he is exploring with students.
5. Pilot Teacher Responses
(the columns in the Feedack Tables below)
Text to World (the activity's connection to your community) Local examples or connections that worked or could work that brought this activity to life in your classroom (eg. similes (when you said to students "this is just like..."), illustrations, examples used that increased student comprehension; community members were accessed; community event participated in, intergenerational conversations, etc.)
Text to Text (resources that could/did further support this unit) Web sites, brochures, posters, images, video, software applications, newspaper articles, podcasts, audio clips, books used to assist in teaching of lesson
Text to Self (what was your teaching experience with this activity?) Suggested improvements to the activity: teaching strategies, pedagogical choices, pacing, sequencing, time allotment, class groupings, collaboration techniques, motivational activities, games used, extension activities, possible future projects and longer-term explorations, cross-curricular connections)
Text and Technology (what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?) Download times, computer access, network stability, hardware/software
6. Editing Schedule
The Nationalism in the North Unit consists of 8 Activities. Pilot teachers are being asked to provide feedback for each activitity within 1 week of having completed the activity itself in class. This will help all of us to benefit from adjustments and suggested resources that may be submitted by any pilot teacher.
7. Activity #1
Changing Times
Teacher
(the activity's connection to your community)
(resources that could/did further support this unit)
(what was your teaching experience with this activity?)
(what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?)
Students stated they had the easiest time with traditional and hardest with transitional, they had trouble because things in transitional era have changed so much it was tough to pin down exactly what was transitional.
1. some groups were slow to start because the drawing part threw them off because my class has a lot of perfectionists in it- it was tougher for my high academic students who are more Type "A" personalities who work better alone and got frustrated with others in the group (very interesting to watch them work themselves out- which they did) Once they started, they create some amazing pictures.
2. took much longer than anticipated we went well into our second period
3. I had my groups present to me as they were all finished at separate times so we discussed it as a small group which took the fear out of the presentation to the class. This worked really well. They all had other work to do when finished.
The activity was fun and students were engaged.
Motivational issues here and the twenty minute time allotment stretched into 2x50 minute periods After surfing the PWCHC site and timeline a greater imput was observed
8. Activity #2 -
A Picture is worth a Hundred Words
(the activity's connection to your community)
(what was your teaching experience with this activity?
(what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?
Again slow to start but once they got it, it went really well- my 20-1 struggled more than at first than my 20-2 again in this activity. It was hard for them to get the idea of writing a story not just an explanation of the image.
Students who were more connected to cultural activities had more knowledge of other Aboriginal Cultures and did a lot of teaching to other students of what was happening in the images. It was really nice to see.
9. Activity #3
Going on a Hunting Trip
(the activity's connection to your community)
(resources that could/did further support this unit)
(what was your teaching experience with this activity?
(what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?
I felt the activity was very disconnected as I did it separately which I won't do again. I might combine it with Activity 4 so there is a hook. My students were very patient and have a lot of trust but I think in a different class it might have been very different-our students want to do know why it is important and why we do things. I had to build a strong connection to the next activity we are going to do next week.
10. Activity #4
Transitions
Here's a modified version of the activity Ross developed.
(the activity's connection to your community)
(resources that could/did further support this unit)
(what was your teaching experience with this activity?
(what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?
mimicked the Haudasenee Confederacy and settled land claims among each other. It led to a good what if discussion if the Euros didn't show up
11. Activity #5
The Road to Settlement
The Timeline cards in the online version of Activity 5(on the PWNHC website) have been enlarged to make them more easily readable in a classroom setting, and re-designed to be appropriate to the Version A and Version B formats that are now indicated for this lesson in the online version of the unit.(the activity's connection to your community)
(resources that could/did further support this unit)
(what was your teaching experience with this activity?
(what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?
I used different coloured index cards for different eras, and I informed the students when one of the events was on the timeline so if next time we are on the computers they can look them up.
-If Only We Had Known
12. Activity #6
Claim Jigsaw
(the activity's connection to your community)
(resources that could/did further support this unit)
(what was your teaching experience with this activity?
(what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?
Differing backgrounds help here with one student being from Gwitc'in descent so connections to personal heritage aided in on task behavior in the computer lab.I interpreted the assets to be the benefits monies royalties etc that the treaty provided for both sides. What was interesting to students was the difference in size issues of the smaller claims compared with Nunavut being its own territory now
13. Activity #7
Nationalism
(the activity's connection to your community)
(resources that could/did further support this unit)
(what was your teaching experience with this activity?
(what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?
-Dene Nations flag choice is another option
-'Self Government' poem by Rene Fumoleau
-I ended up giving the students notes on the vocabulary words that they they could work out definitions in their own words and experiences.
14. Activity #8
Leaders
(the activity's connection to your community)
(resources that could/did further support this unit)
(what was your teaching experience with this activity?
(what issues did you encounter when using technology to support the activity?